opinion

Three wise NBA draft picks for luckless Nuggets

And with the 11th pick in the 2014 NBA draft, the Denver Nuggets select ... Doug McDermott of Creighton.

In your dreams? Yes.

But in reality? No way. No how.

McDermott has overhyped and underdeliver written all over him. His jump shot will help an NBA team stretch the floor. But should the Nuggets junk their faith in Danilo Gallinari's lengthy rehabilitation from knee injury to give McDermott a starting job?

Absolutely not.

Here are three players in the NCAA Tournament who might look good in a Nuggets uniform.

Gary Harris: It seems everybody is jumping on the Michigan State band wagon as the trendy pick to win the tournament. Isn't that right, Barack Obama? A major reason why the Spartans are getting so much love is Harris, a feisty shooting guard. He's strong. He actually likes to play defense. And he's aggressive. The catch? At 6-foot-4, he seems to be a tweener in the backcourt. So the role that might best allow him to shine in the NBA is as first man off the bench.

Nik Stauskas: The 6-6 shooting guard from Michigan was the Big Ten player of the year. He brings a swagger to the court, and his jumper was made to exploit the NBA's 3-point line. The general consensus among draft analysts is Stauskas won't go before the middle of the opening round, which indicates he would be a reach for any team in the lottery. But take this as fair warning: The franchise that drafts McDermott ahead of Stauskas will regret the decision. There's an edge to Stauskas, and Denver could definitely use a mean streak.

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James Young: At 18 years old, he is far from a finished product. That lack of maturity is precisely one of the reasons that the Kentucky Wildcats, who now serve as the NBA's leading babysitting program under the direction of coach John Calipari, are so confounding. Will the obvious scoring potential of Young make him a star at the pro level? He might be off the board when Denver picks. There would be boom-or-bust risks. But Young might also be exactly the gamble the Nuggets need to take and win, if they ever to become a serious championship contender.

With a 31-37 record and bound for the draft lottery, the local NBA franchise needs help. I watch March Madness with an eye for players who could help the Nuggets. But the scouting exercise makes me mad. For two reasons:

1) Masai Ujiri owes a note of apology to every Nuggets fan. Denver would almost certainly own two lottery picks in a deep 2014 draft, if not for one of the dumbest trades in franchise history.

At a time when Ujiri was regarded as a front-office genius, he traded away Arron Afflalo and a first-round pick for Andre Iguodala, a vastly overrated player who never wanted to be in the Rocky Mountains. Ujiri took the money and ran to Toronto. Iguodala got out of Denver as quickly as possible and now delivers far below his pay grade for Golden State. The trade for Iguodala did far more long-term damage to the Nuggets than the departure of coach George Karl.

2) More than three years after forcing the Nuggets to trade him to New York, Carmelo Anthony haunts Denver. Early in the season, it appeared the Knicks would be one of the worst teams in the league, and the first-round choice they owed Denver might bring Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker or a dream-come-true rookie to Colorado.

But the Knicks have won seven in a row, with Melo averaging 28.7 points in the stretch that has soured the Nuggets' chances at scoring big in the lottery.